Kort, Fornell and Gibbs arrived at the hospital to find a very tired Ducky, sitting in the cafeteria drinking a cup of tea. The elderly Doctor was wearing a set of scrubs and had obviously recently left the surgical theater. They sped up when they saw him, all anxious for information on their friend and colleague.
"Duck?" Gibbs said when they reached his table.
Ducky immediately understood the question that was being asked when the three men approached him.
"He just got out of surgery. He took one hell of a beating Jethro, I haven't seen the likes of that kind of physical abuse since my time with..."
Gibbs saw the older man was remembering the time he served with a Doctor more interested in torture than healing.
"Is he going to make it?" Kort asked trying to sound casual but failing as concern filled his voice.
"Yes, but we've decided to leave him heavily sedated for the next three to four days to allow his body the time it needs to properly heal. I don't expect him to be awake or lucid until we dial back the sedatives once his physical injuries have healed enough to not put undue stress on his heart. It's a delicate balance at the moment giving him enough sedates to prevent him from going into cardiac arrest but not too much as to effect his respiratory system."
"I'm afraid I need you to wake him up now.", Fornell said regret heavy in his voice.
"Are you insane?". Gibbs said as he glared at the man.
Kort simply reached for his sidearm as his eye narrowed in obvious anger, "I think not Agent Fornell."
Ducky rose from his seat and stood between the three men, "I must agree with Agent Kort, Tobias. It is just to dangerous to allow him to awake at the moment."
Fornell spoke to Gibbs but his eyes never left Kort whose hand stayed dangerously close to the gun at his side, " I'm sorry to inform you of this but we have an agent sending voice mail and emails from death's doorstep. Plus, he's managed to hack into at least one government agency while in surgery. If you're not interested into finding out how he did that, well I know I'm sure the hell am, not to mention he seems to be the only one who knows exactly what's going on at the moment. The sooner we can talk to him the sooner we can find out who's after him and be better prepared to prevent another attack."
Gibbs was getting ready to respond when Kort exploded shocking everyone present. "I don't care what you want to find out or how he's doing whatever it is he's doing. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FORCE THE DOCTORS TO BRING HIM OUT OF SEDATION. You are a trained investigator, investigate. I will not allow anyone to further endanger my... friend."
He whispered the last word like it was difficult for him to say.
"Agent Kort, I was not going to even consider Tobias' request, you did not need to allow yourself to become so worked up." Ducky responded calmly, turning to Agent Fornell, "You can speak to him when we determine that it is medically safe to wake him, but not one second sooner."
Gibbs was staring at the CIA Agent something was different in the man, he was not the cold as steel, ready to sacrifice anyone and everyone to achieve his goals Agent that Gibbs had dealt with in the past. This Kort appeared to be almost human. Gibbs silently vowed to watch the man and see what had caused the change. He didn't like the unexpected and Kort's current behavior was definitely unexpected.
While Kort and Fornell continued the stubborn glaring match, Gibbs asked the question that they all really wanted the answer, "Can we see him?"
Ducky stared hard at the three men and made sure they understood the condition of the visit, "Only if you each promise to control your emotions in the room and any attempt to wake will result in me banning all of you from seeing him again until we decide to lower the sedation."
Each of the men nodded their agreement. Ducky then took one last sip of his tea and led them to Tim's room.
Even after seeing him earlier, none of them were prepared for the shock that awaited them when they entered the room. Tim was hooked up to several machines and the noise of the respirator that steadily supplied him with oxygen seemed unusually loud. There didn't seemed to be an inch of skin that was exposed that didn't either have a needle in it or was black and blue from the horrible beating that he took. Tim's face was swollen and there appeared to be a soft cast on his right arm. Tim looked like hell warmed over. The only welcoming sound in the room was the steady beep of the heart monitor that told them that he was alive.
Kort was the first to regain his composure and walked to the side of the bed. He didn't touch the sleeping man but he did softly whisper by his ear, "Don't worry kid, I'll handle this you just get better."
Gibbs followed and stood on the other side, he once again issued his stern order that Tim was not allowed to die. The two men looked at each other and as one walked away from the injured man.
Fornell just shook his head and followed the others out of the room.
As they were walking out, Ducky grabbed Gibbs arm and motioned to him that he would like a word with him in private, "Jethro, we need to call Penelope. I know for a fact that Tim calls her regularly and she would be quite put out if she was kept in the dark about his condition."
Gibbs nodded a started to walk away only taking a few steps before he froze in his tracks, "Shit, shit, shit." He grabbed his phone and called as he once again started walking with a purpose in his step. "DiNozzo stop whatever it is you are doing and do a deep back ground on Penelope Langston and Admiral Robert McGee focusing on the time he was stationed in England." He didn't wait for a reply before hitting the button to end the call and dialing the next number.
"Director, call Tim's grandmother and have her come to the Navy Yard at once. When she gets there put her into interrogation and let her stew for a while. Do not tell her anything about what happened to Tim."
The other men just stared at him, "It's not the truth will cost a penny. It's the truth will cost Penny. Ms Langston knows something about what is going on and if my past dealings with her is anything to go by, she will not tell us without a fight."
AN: I SURVIVIED BLACK FRIDAY. Hope you enjoyed the update and as always review with your thoughts and comments. :) stray